Press X to Not Die
by Twilight Zephyr
Summary: It was a fact of life that Marcus didn't understand video games, or 'video game logic' either. Mareth, one-shot, giftfic for avari maethor


**Notes:** This is a late birthday present for **avari_maethor**, because I'm bad with dates and I usually forget... even when LJ or FB reminds me. I usually find out to late, and then can't be bothered. The title is a reference to the EVILEST THINGS EVER INVENTED... otherwise known as quick-time events. If you game, you know what they are... I think...  
**Title:** Press X to Not Die  
**Fandom:** _Twilight_ series – with healthy doses of another  
**Pairing:** Marcus/Seth  
**Rating:** pg13  
**Words:** 3204 words  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own the _Twilight_ series, it's all the property of Stephanie Meyer who is... not as utterly insane as I am so I can't possibly be her because I write fanfiction, it's slash, and there's... horror in this. And I don't own the game Seth's playing either; it belongs to Konami.

**Press X to Not Die**

With the blanket pulled over his head like a tent, Seth looked like a blob of black fabric since the only light that filled the room was provided by the TV. And the environment on the TV wasn't exactly one that was brightly lit and cheery.

But getting up to turn the light on was out of the question. Even though he knew it was completely stupid of him to be afraid of the empty rooms of the similarly empty house, that didn't change the fact that he was. If vampires and actual werewolves could be real, then who was to say that ghosts weren't? Or other strange monsters that could kill him? Probably with a steel pipe too.

Or killed with some other gruesome and painful looking weapon or method.

He didn't fancy getting ambushed on his way to turn the light on and possibly tripping over a piece of furniture and then being eaten. It just wasn't how he wanted to be found. Either that or dying of fright because a _**shadow**_ of all things had given him a heart attack.

The controller he was clutching in his hands shook a little as he navigated his way down another dark corridor, trying to figure out if the static from the radio was telling him that there was a monster in front of him or that one had snuck up behind him and was about to spray acid all over him. It didn't help that the corridors of the game were too narrow to effectively dodge unless he just shoved his way past the monsters in question.

He was just glad he'd found a flashlight, even though it meant having to beat another disturbing monster to death to get out of the room without being kicked to death.

Unfortunately for him, the corridor wound up being a dead end and he had to turn around and make his way back the way he'd come. He wasn't even sure about what it was exactly that he'd been looking for in the stupid apartment complex, just that he'd found a key for them and thought that maybe they'd be worth exploring.

So far he hadn't found all that much; just some health drinks really, and a few cryptic items and messages that he supposed would make more sense down the line as he got farther into the game.

Every noise set him further on edge because he wasn't sure if they were coming from the game he was playing or if they were coming from the house itself. Marcus and the others were out hunting and they'd said that they'd be back later once they'd fed – Marcus had promised to be quick and be back as soon as he could.

So Seth had been forced to figure out a way to entertain himself for the several hours that he knew that Marcus would be absent for. And that was what had led to him finding the PS2 in one of the storage rooms just off the main floor of the Cullen house and hooking it up to the TV in the guest room that he and Marcus had been given during their stay. Then it had taken a little poking around the house to find a few games that looked promising.

_Okay, maybe this was a bad idea..._ Seth had just jumped when he heard a scratching noise that was probably just the sound of a branch scratching against one of the windows, that was only made more scary by the fact that he'd thought it was something sneaking up on him.

Seth let out a deep breath when he paused the game and listened carefully, not hearing the noise again. _I should've known this was a bad idea – I really can't handle anything scary like this._

That didn't stop him from playing the game, though; he was too curious about what was going to happen next. He'd already had encounters with some of the strange creatures which seemed to be the only inhabitants of the stupid town – with maybe the exception of that evil little girl who had stepped on his character's hand and kicked the key away that he was now trying to figure out how to get – but that was really it.

It was probably what made the game so horrible; the fact that he was _**completely and utterly alone**_ in the entire town. Apart from the odd lady he'd run into in the cemetery at the beginning of the game, he hadn't seen anyone else who was alive.

It was unnerving.

Just as he turned another corner, there was a soft noise that sounded like a door opening somewhere. Seth froze.

_Was that the game or did someone just come in?_

He waited, hoping that the game would give him some sign that what he'd heard was in the game, but the radio gave off no sound of static to tell him that there was a monster nearby. That meant that whatever he'd heard meant that someone had just come into the house.

Taking a deep breath, Seth tried to reassure himself that it was probably just one of the Cullens or Jacob coming back from hunting – or in Jacob's case visiting his dad and the rest of the pack. Unfortunately, the game had made him weirdly paranoid about all noises in dead silence. The only noise that had filled the house for the past several hours had been the noises from the game and a few noises coming from outside.

Unfortunately, he didn't hear anything else so that meant that Jacob coming back was out of the question. Maybe his imagination was just getting the better of him...

Pausing the game, he pulled the blanket closer around him. It was then that he heard the soft creak of one of the stairs and his heart leapt and started hammering wildly in his chest. _Okay, so I didn't imagine that. So who could it be...?_

Despite his rational mind telling him there was nothing to be afraid of, Seth had had enough encounters with vampires who wanted to kill him to take anything for granted. After all, he knew from what the Cullens had told him previously that he smelled very strongly of Marcus – he'd blushed at that because he knew why and it wasn't an innocent matter of why either – which meant that any nomads in the area would be curious since it was obviously a vampire's smell.

Of course, Seth definitely didn't smell like a vampire, so they'd be wondering about him.

If that was the case, then there was a chance that they might attack him... or worse.

He didn't want to think about that.

Very slowly and trying to be as quiet as possible, Seth got to his feet and made his way over to the door. Carefully, he opened it and peered out into the darkness of the hall. He couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean that they weren't there. He was at a disadvantage since phasing in such a confined space meant that he wouldn't have enough room to move around properly which would make it easier for someone to corner him.

_Don't think like that,_ he told himself. _You'll be fine; it's just that stupid video game getting to you._

Stepping into the hall, he left the door open behind him. He glanced up and down the hallway again but he still couldn't see anything. And the light switch was at the far end of the hall... near the front stairs. But there was a panel on the second floor that he could use near the back set of stairs.

Just as he made up his mind to do that and took a step forward, he felt cool arms slide around his waist and he couldn't help it.

He shrieked.

**.:-o-:. .:-o-:. .:-o-:.**

Marcus blinked. He hadn't expected such a reaction from his lover, but then again, he also hadn't expected to find Seth trying to impersonate a ghost either.

"Seth, what are you doing?"

His lover tensed and then took several deep breaths as both his breathing and heart rate evened out. Seth turned around and quite promptly threw his arms around Marcus' neck, mumbling out something into his neck that even the vampire had trouble making out.

"You know I can't hear you when you do that my love."

H e felt the already warm cheeks heat up even more, and he knew that Seth was blushing. Finally, after a few minutes, Seth pulled away enough to mutter out, "Sorry... scared me."

"I can certainly see why," Marcus replied. He still was covered in quite a lot of blood splatter from his little hunting trip; he'd need a change of clothes at least and maybe a shower before he was able to completely get rid of all of it.

Pulling away, Seth paused and realized that his lover was covered in a rather nice splattering of blood. He blushed, noticing that some of it was still wet enough and was all over him now as well.

"Um, I hadn't noticed actually." Seth sighed, "I was just... don't laugh at me, but I was playing this game and it scared me and when I heard the noises I thought that you were something else so–"

Cool lips pressed against his, silencing his rambling. It didn't take long for the kiss to deepen, Seth welcoming Marcus' tongue into his mouth with a passion that took both of them by surprise. It was the first time since they'd arrived that Marcus had gone beyond anything chaste with him. Seth was pretty sure it was because he didn't want the Cullens to get the wrong idea about his intentions.

Which was something Seth really didn't care about, he'd missed this sort of thing.

When the two finally parted for air, Seth grinned, "I think I should try scaring myself more often."

Marcus chuckled, "So long as it doesn't give you a heart attack then I have nothing to say against it. Just what were you playing anyway?"

"Doesn't matter. You need a shower right? You don't mind if I join you?" Marcus didn't miss the suggestive tone in Seth's voice or the glint in his eyes that told him that the shower would be anything but innocent. "The Cullens won't be back until morning at least."

Dropping a kiss to Seth's temple, Marcus smiled, "I don't see why not."

**.:-o-:. .:-o-:. .:-o-:.**

Still damp from the shower, but happily sated and content that at least now he wasn't going to be playing the game alone in the dark in an empty house, he settled back in front of the TV. But this time he wasn't sitting on the floor and cowering under a blanket; Marcus had settled down with him and he was currently sitting on the vampire's lap with the comforter from the bed pulled around both of them like a tent.

It had been Seth's idea since he'd been doing it before and he just wanted to stick with it because it helped him focus. That and it made him feel a little safer because he was wrapped up in both the warmth of the blanket and Marcus' arms – because if monsters were going to sneak in and try to kill him, at least he knew that Marcus would sooner tear them apart then let them get to him.

He resumed playing, wandering down another corridor until he heard what sounded like a baby crying. It was unnerving considering that the most sound he'd been getting out of the game had been static coming from the radio that his character had.

Turning down the hall that he'd thought he'd heard it coming from, Seth was prepared to lash up with his wooden stick with a nail in it of doom.

Having Marcus there sort of defeated the point of being scared out of his wits, mostly because the vampire didn't actually seem to find the game all that scary. Seth could feel the curious tilt of Marcus' head from where it was resting on his shoulder, and was kind of distracted from the game itself by his hands on his stomach which had a tendency to tighten around him whenever he jumped at the slightest noise or scary monster appearance.

All he found at the end of the hall was a wall of bars preventing what looked like a very nasty looking monster from quite possibly eating his character. Of course, what kind of confused Seth was that the monster didn't actually even move towards him despite the obstacle. It just seemed to be standing there looking menacing.

"What is it?" Marcus asked, arms still firmly around Seth as he spoke. "It looks different from the other creatures that you've encountered."

Seth shrugged, "I don't know, maybe we'll find out later?"

He'd already seen a large measure of strange things that he could really explain, like the weird writing in blood on the wall of that bar – "There was a HOLE here, it's gone now." He guessed that some things were only meant to make sense to the hardcore player, or maybe it would make more sense down the line.

"I actually haven't figured out much except that this town is deserted and filled with monsters, and that we're here to look for his dead wife."

Marcus frowned, "If she's dead, then wouldn't it be logical that she would be buried in a cemetery?"

"Well I passed through one on the way to the town, so apparently not. The most I know is that he got a letter from his dead wife telling him that she was waiting for him in this town and that's why he's here," Seth replied with a shrug. "I'm pretty sure that this is one of those games where everything is explained to you in time."

"I see."

Seth laughed at that; trust Marcus not to understand the concept of video games too well. Of course, sometimes video games operated with what Seth liked to think of as 'video game logic' in which the characters did stupid things that really didn't make sense in the real world, but needed to happen in order to further the story.

"Maybe we'll run into the pointy-headed guy again later in the game," Seth continued. "I kinda want to know what his deal is."

Marcus' only response was to shrug and continue watching as Seth explored the apartment complex in an attempt to figure out what it was that he was supposed to do next.

The dead body in the room with the static TV didn't help Seth's confusion at all since there was a little voiced bit to go along with it, but since the room seemed to be special, he figured that maybe if he wandered around on that floor of the apartment enough, he'd figure out what the hell it was he was supposed to be doing.

The monster he'd noticed earlier when he'd gone into the room was gone from where it had been before.

Shrugging it off, Seth continued wandering around and exploring all the different rooms in an effort to figure out what his objective was.

An hour spent wandering eventually rewarded him with figuring out the stupid clock puzzle that he was supposed to solve in order to move on into another area of the apartment complex. Marcus, of course, spent the entire time inquiring as to why he was spending so much time wandering around instead of trying to complete his objective.

"A dead body certainly can't be that hard to find."

"Well, I don't actually really know what it is that I'm supposed to be looking for," Seth replied. "But I'm guessing that all that trouble I went through just now is to get that stupid key that the bratty kid kicked away from me earlier in the level."

"This game is rather confusing; wouldn't it be better to tell the player what their objective is?" Marcus asked as Seth wandered down the third floor hallway trying the doors that he came across.

Of course, when he entered the third door on one side of the hall, the two of them were treated to a very interesting scene.

Marcus blinked and then quite promptly covered Seth's eyes with one hand in the second that it took him to comprehend what was going on between the three monsters in the tiny kitchen of the apartment. And of course, that didn't sit too well with Seth who immediately reached up to pry Marcus' hand off of his face in time to see the pointy-helmeted monster from before dragging one of those multi-legged creatures out of the kitchen by its leg and quickly discarding it after making sure that it was dead.

Then it started making its way over to where his character was hiding in the closet. It pulled at its helmet for a few moments, looking as though it was in pain.

He was pretty sure that the eight bullets his character pumped into the monster didn't help the matter either.

Although, not getting killed for having done so came a pretty huge surprise to Seth.

Blinking, Seth stared at the screen for a few moments, "Hey, why didn't he kill me?"

"I think you would have to ask him that," Marcus replied. _Although I'm sure that any intentions he might have towards the character you are controlling aren't of the innocent or typical variety._

"I wonder if he could even talk."

"I don't think that helmet could prevent him from doing so."

"Hm, well it's something to think about. And what was with you and covering my eyes like that? I'm old enough to be playing this game you know."

If Marcus was human, he probably would have blushed at being reminded of his protective nature. "My apologies, I didn't think it was something that you needed to see."

"Why? What was it?"

"I think you can take a guess." With slow, deliberate movements, Marcus slid his hand down from where it had been lingering around Seth's shoulder down to a certain part of his anatomy that the vampire was rather well acquainted with while the other...

Seth gasped at the sudden touch, "Oh. Yeah, I see what you mean."

"Good." Marcus made to remove his hands, smirking as he did so.

"Oh no, you put your hands right back there; you started this so you'd damn well better finish it." With very little effort, Seth paused the game again, shoved aside the controller and turned in Marcus' arms. He pretty much tackled the vampire to the ground – an action that Marcus surprisingly allowed.

"And if we're caught like this?"

"Shut it, you started this."

Game forgotten, Seth continued what the two of them had just done earlier.

**FIN.**

The video game I used is so totally obvious. Try guessing it and I'll give you this cookie. *holds it out* That and I'll post one thing from the kink meme that I found for it and dedicate it to you on my LJ (since posting anything from that here would just be really inappropriate given the subject matter). So consider that your incentive for guessing what it is.

Anyway, happy very belated birthday to you avari! Sorry about how long this took and how dumb I am for not noticing until it was too late; but I hope my game references, sexytimes references and otherwise strange idea of what constitutes fluff in this case makes up for it. So enjoy your fantastically awesome one-shot of doom and video game references.

As always, comment because it is greatly appreciated and loved.

Twilight.**  
**


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